1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to transparent credit cards, membership cards, identification cards and other transaction cards which may be detected by currently available card printing machines, automatic teller machines and other card readers.
2. Prior Art
Credit cards have been in use since 1950.
Over the years, the basic appearance of credit cards has not changed significantly. Generally, a credit card is sized at about 3.375 inches wide by about 2.125 inches high by about 0.03 inch thick in order to fit into a typical wallet. The card has a base formed of polyvinyl chloride, polycarbonate or similar plastic material which may be cured such that the card has appropriate characteristics of rigidity and flexibility to withstand the rigors a typical card is expected to endure.
Alphanumeric indicia, which typically identify the card issuing entity and the person to whom the card is issued, are embossed on the card for, among other things, creating an imprint on credit card transaction forms. A magnetic strip is usually embedded in or adhered to the back surface of the card. The magnetic strip is magnetically encoded with information relating to the entity issuing the card and/or the person to whom the card is issued, which information may be read by card readers in automatic teller machines (“ATMs”), point of purchase card readers at cashier counters in stores, identification card readers and the like. A signature strip, for receiving the card carrier's signature, is printed on or adhered to the back surface of the card as well. Very recently, some credit card issuers have embedded computer chips in their credit cards.
In addition, a typical credit card has other matter, visibly perceptible to the human eye, printed on the front and/or back surfaces of the card by silkscreening, offset lithography or other printing processes. The other matter printed on the front and back surfaces of the card may include information such as the name of the person to whom the card is issued, the name address and telephone number of the issuing entity, pictures, such as of the intended card holder, and holograms and logotypes associated with the issuing entity and other information or aesthetic matter.
Many identification cards, including store membership cards and company and school identification cards, now have the same or similar characteristics as credit cards. So do driver licenses as well.
In the 1950s there were only a few credit card issuers and few people obtained any credit or other cards at all. Today, hundreds of entities issue credit cards, and the average adult carries several credit and/or identification cards and a driver license.
Entities which issue credit cards vigorously compete with each other. In addition to the financial terms in connection with which their cards may be used and the venues which will accept the cards, credit card issuers use their cards' aesthetic characteristics to achieve a competitive edge.
A feature which could provide an aesthetic characteristic is transparency. Efforts at making transparent credit cards have been considered in the past. For example, a credit card having a substantial portion of its area transparent is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,725,647, titled “Photographic Credit Card System,” issued to Clarence Retzky on Apr. 3, 1973.
Efforts to make, in commercially significant volumes, credit cards having a substantial portion of their area transparent, particularly along the edges of the credit cards, have been unsuccessful. That is because such cards have not been detectable in currently available card printing machines, ATMs or other card readers.
Sensors in such machines and readers detect the presence of a card when a light beam aimed at the sensor is blocked by the card itself. That is, when sensors detect light surrounding a predefined boundary at the same time that no light is detected within such boundary, the machine or reader detects the presence of a card. When the card is detected, a printing and/or reading operation is conducted. (In modern machines, the printing operation may also include the application of magnetic strip and a signature strip, and the embedding of a computer chip on or into the base of the card.) A transparent card, however, passes light through it, so the sensors fail to detect the presence of such a card, and no printing and/or reading operation occurs. Because transparent cards are not detected, a transparent card may jam current printing and reading machines (collectively referred to herein as “card readers”).
No matter how aesthetically pleasing a transparent credit card might be, it is of little use if an issuing entity cannot print its name and logo on it or if the card cannot be read in ATMs or other card readers.
So, credit cards, identification cards, membership cards, driver licenses and similar cards (referred to collectively herein as “transaction cards”) have been made from an opaque plastic, usually colored white, with information, aesthetic matter magnetic strips, signature strips and/or computer chips printed on or otherwise applied to the base of the card as described above.
Nevertheless, a strong desire has persisted among card issuing entities to be able to issue transaction cards having a significant area which is transparent. As discussed below, aesthetically transparent transaction cards (i.e., cards which are transparent to humanly visible light) can be detected by typical card readers if the card, though transparent to humans, is opaque in at least a portion of the infrared region of the light spectrum. In addition, the inventor has discovered a method to efficiently an economically manufacture cards which are transparent to the human eye but which are detectable by card printing and reading machines.